Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar visited Mantralaya on Friday morning and reviewed the work in progress to cool off the seven-storeyed building.

Pawar told reporters that the Chief Minister's office on the sixth floor has remained comparatively unscathed by the fire which had gutted nearby offices.

A large number of files were also destroyed, including that of Urban Development department which is embroiled in the Adarsh housing scam involving several top politicians, bureaucrats and ex-army officials, raising questions on whether any sabotage was the cause.

Sixteen others sustained injuries in the raging fire in the secretariat. The injured persons have been admitted to various hospitals, including 11 at JJ and St George, 3 at G T and 2 at Nair hospital.

Some of them have suffered suffocation, while others have sustained minor injuries on hands and legs, J J Hospital dean Dr T P Lahane said. To review the situation in the aftermath of the fire, a special meeting of Maharashtra Cabinet will be held on Friday.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who has announced a crime branch probe into the incident, will chair the meeting to be held at Vidhan Bhawan. Offices of various departments located on fourth, fifth and sixth floors damaged in the fire would be shifted to Vidhan Bhawan and Sahyadri Guest house, Chavan said.

There were around 2,500 Mantralaya staffers in the building, apart from around 2,000 visitors when the fire broke out, a Mantralaya official said. Around 8,000 employees work in the Mantralaya building on a normal working day.

Asked if there were proper fire fighting equipment in place at Mantralaya, Joshi said such equipment was in place but he could not say whether they were in a working condition or not. "The fire fighting equipment was there but was of no use to us," he said.

On reports that important documents have been destroyed in the fire, Employment Guarantee Scheme Minister Nitin Raut said over three lakh files in Mantralaya have already been scanned and they are on the main server.

Meanwhile, there are reports that an urn which once contained the ashes of Jawaharlal Nehru and was kept in the sixth floor of Mantralaya, has been damaged in the fire.

Case of accidental death registered

Meanwhile, Mumbai Police has registered a case of accidental death after five persons died in the massive fire.

The Marine Lines police have registered a case in the incident and are investigating the matter, police sources said.

Meanwhile, the family of constable Mohan Shankar More, who was posted in the Chief Minister's cabin, claimed that he had not returned home since Thursday. Police said they are searching for him.

Earlier, forensic experts also visited the site as part of an inquiry being conducted by police to collect samples from the spot for probing the cause of the blaze.

."The charred remains of a victim were found outside the office of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on the sixth floor of Mantralaya at around 8 AM," fire brigade sources said.